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Allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis, rhinitis, asthma, and anaphylaxis are attractive research areas. Tyrosol (2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethanol) is a polyphenolic compound with diverse biological activities. In this study, we investigated whether tyrosol has anti-allergic inflammatory effects. Ovalbumin-induced active systemic anaphylaxis and immunoglobulin E-mediated passive cutaneous anaphylaxis models were used for the immediate-type allergic responses. Oral administration of tyrosol reduced the allergic symptoms of hypothermia and pigmentation in both animal models. Mast cells that secrete allergic mediators are key regulators on allergic inflammation. Tyrosol dose-dependently decreased mast cell degranulation and expression of inflammatory cytokines. Intracellular calcium levels and activation of inhibitor of κB kinase (IKK) regulate cytokine expression and degranulation. Tyrosol blocked calcium influx and phosphorylation of the IKK complex. To define the molecular target for tyrosol, various signaling proteins involved in mast cell activation such as Lyn, Syk, phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and Akt were examined. Our results showed that PI3K could be a molecular target for tyrosol in mast cells. Taken together, these findings indicated that tyrosol has anti-allergic inflammatory effects by inhibiting the degranulation of mast cells and expression of inflammatory cytokines; these effects are mediated via PI3K. Therefore, we expect tyrosol become a potential therapeutic candidate for allergic inflammatory disorders.

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BackgroundMature autogenous arteriovenous fistulas have better long term patency and require fewer secondary interventions compared to arteriovenous prosthetic graft. Our Study evaluated vascular patency rates and incidence of interventions in autogenous arteriovenous fistulas and grafts.Material and MethodsA total of 166 vascular access operations were performed in 153 patients between December 2002 and November 2009. Thirty seven caeses were excluded due to primary access failure and loss of follow-up. One group of 92 autogenous arterioveous fistulas and the other group of 37 arteriovenous prosthetic grafts were evaluated retrospectively. Primary and secondary patency rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.ResultsThe primary patency rate (84%, 67%, 51% vs. 51%, 22%, 9% at 1, 3, 5 year; p=0.0000) and secondary patency rate (96%, 88%, 68% vs. 88%, 65%, 16% at 1. 3, 5 year; p=0.0009) were better in autogenous fistula group than prosthetic graft group. Interventions to maintain secondary patency were required in 23% of the autogenous fistula group (average 0.06 procedures/patient/year) and 65% of prosthetic graft group (average 0.21 procedures/patient/year). So the autogenous fistula group had fewer intervention rate than prosthetic graft group (p=0.01) The risk factor of primary patency was diabetus combined with ischemic heart disease and the secondary patency's risk factor was age.ConclusionAutogenous arteriovenous fistulas showed better performance compared to prosthetic grafts in terms of primary & secondary patency and incidence of interventions.

We report a case of concurrent saccular aneurysms caused by a penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer of the thoracic and abdominal aorta that were successfully treated by staged endovascular repair. Even though surgical open repair or endovascular repair is the treatment option, use of endovascular repair is now accepted as an alternative treatment to surgery in selected patients. To prevent contrast medium-induced nephropathy and spinal cord ischemia caused by a simultaneous endovascular procedure, a saccular aneurysm of the descending thoracic aorta was excluded by stent graft, followed by the placement of a bifurcated stent graft in the infrarenal abdominal aorta one month later.